Morrison Urges Australians to Stay at Home During Easter Break

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Australians to stay home during the Easter break, warning that the progress in containing the coronavirus could be swiftly undone if people stopped following home-isolation rules.

“We have bought valuable time, but we cannot be complacent,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday after a meeting of the National Cabinet. “We must keep the tension in the cord.”

Morrison has been emphatic that his conservative government is fighting to both save lives by limiting the virus’s spread, and to support an economy rocked by rising unemployment as restaurants, casinos and retailers close due to social-distancing restrictions.

The measures the National Cabinet has put in place, including barring non-essential travel and closing borders to non-residents, seem to be having an impact, with new cases of the virus falling. Morrison has also hailed the response of the health sector as among the best in the world, saying that almost 1% of the population has been tested.

Australia has recorded 5,844 cases of the disease as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday, up 100 -- or 1.7% -- from the day before. Forty-four people have died, according to the chief medical officer.

Morrison said that academic modeling drawing on data from around the world showed Australia’s attempt to flatten the curve of new infections was working. “We are on the right track,” he said.

He announced a new industry code of practice for commercial tenancies would be legislated to provide rent relief for businesses hit by the outbreak. Any decline in revenue for small- or medium-sized enterprise will be reflected in a proportionate drop in rent they have to pay, he said.

The reduction can be delivered through a combination of rent waivers and deferrals, but the waiver must account for at least 50% of the cut. Landlords can’t terminate a lease, and tenants must honor the lease.

Total fiscal and monetary stimulus in Australia since the virus emerged now exceeds A$320 billion ($193 billion), or 16.4% of gross domestic product, including a A$130 billion jobs-rescue plan set to be legislated at a special sitting of parliament in Canberra from Wednesday. Morrison last week announced the government will make childcare free to help workers stay in their jobs.

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